Resources
Part of Circle of Trees
Background Reading for All Tapestry of Faith Programs
Nurturing Children and Youth: A Developmental Guidebook by Tracey L. Hurd (Boston: Unitarian Universalist Association, 2005)
The Gift of Faith: Tending the Spiritual Lives of Children (Second Edition) by Jeanne Harrison Nieuwejaar (Boston: Skinner House Books, 2003)
Welcoming Children with Special Needs: A Guidebook for Faith Communities by Sally Patton (Boston: Unitarian Universalist Association, 2004)
When Youth Lead: A Guide to Intergenerational Social Justice Ministry by Jill M. Schwendeman (Boston: Unitarian Universalist Association, 2007)
The Arts and Spirituality
Tapestry of Faith offers two online supplementary resources to enrich the teaching and learning experience:
Spirituality and the Arts in Children’s Programming by Dr. Nita Penfold provides guidance for using arts in creative, spiritual ways.
Making Music Live by Nick Page demonstrates how to incorporate music into religious education, including how to teach songs even if you are not a musician.
Unitarian Universalist Principles and Sources
Unitarian Universalist congregations affirm and promote seven Principles:
- The inherent worth and dignity of every person
- Justice, equity, and compassion in human relations
- Acceptance of one another and encouragement to spiritual growth in our congregations
- A free and responsible search for truth and meaning
- The right of conscience and the use of the democratic process within our congregations and in society at large
- The goal of world community with peace, liberty, and justice for all
- Respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part.
Unitarian Universalism draws from many Sources:
- Direct experience of that transcending mystery and wonder, affirmed in all cultures, which moves us to a renewal of the spirit and an openness to the forces that create and uphold life
- Words and deeds of prophetic women and men that challenge us to confront powers and structures of evil with justice, compassion, and the transforming power of love
- Wisdom from the world’s religions, which inspires us in our ethical and spiritual life
- Jewish and Christian teachings, which call us to respond to God’s love by loving our neighbors as ourselves
- Humanist teachings, which counsel us to heed the guidance of reason and the results of science, and warn us against idolatries of the mind and spirit
- Spiritual teachings of earth-centered traditions, which celebrate the sacred circle of life and instruct us to live in harmony with the rhythms of nature